Ben Simmons’ season-ending injury has been a significant blow to the Philadelphia 76ers, but some hope that it could be an opportunity for young players. The Sixers have performed admirably in his absence and remain relatively healthy despite losing key contributors throughout the year. While Ben’s minutes cannot come back from this point, there is still time for him to contribute on another level going forward.
The 76ers are in need of new direction, and manager Brett Brown is looking to find ways to fill the empty seats at Wells Fargo Center. With Ben Simmons out for the season again due his knee injury, Philadelphia has been forced to come up with creative solutions-like becoming more active on social media.
The “Michael Porter Jr. sign and trade to 76ers for Ben Simmons” is a topic that has been in the news lately. Michael Porter Jr. was traded from the Denver Nuggets to the Philadelphia 76ers for Ben Simmons.
These are the days of Philadelphia 76ers supporters’ life, like sands through an hourglass. It’s been almost five months since Ben Simmons missed a wide-open dunk against the Atlanta Hawks in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference playoffs. As the globe revolves, the soap opera that resulted from that choice continues.
While the turmoil surrounding Simmons continues to dominate the news, the Sixers are demonstrating they don’t need him on the court to win games. In reality, Philly’s answer to the whole issue is now in the starting lineup of the MIA powerhouse.
The answer is Tyrese Maxey.
Without Ben Simmons, the Philadelphia 76ers are finding ways to win.
Tyrese Maxey has made more progress in a single season than Ben Simmons has in his whole career.
Maxey 8.0 17.1 PPG 1.7 3.8 RPG 2.0 4.7 APG 0.4 0.8 SPG 0.2 0.7 BPG 53.1 59.3 TS percent Maxey 8.0 17.1 PPG 1.7 3.8 RPG 2.0 4.7 APG 0.4 0.8 SPG 0.2 0.7 BPG
Simmons 8.1 7.2 RPG 15.8 14.3 PPG 5.5.7 58.4 TS percent pic.twitter.com/6Dm74rel3q 8.2 6.9 APG 1.7 1.6 SPG 0.9 0.6 BPG 55.7 58.4 TS percent
November 12, 2021 — StatMuse (@statmuse)
Philadelphia started the season with an 8-3 record despite the absence of their presumed franchise point guard. Joel Embiid had long since supplanted Simmons as the Sixers’ face, but now the Sixers’ center is out as well after testing positive for coronavirus (COVID-19).
JoJo has missed the previous two games for the squad. The 76ers have lost both games, which is unsurprising.
Despite this, the squad is still in the top part of the Eastern Conference rankings with an 8-5 record. Philly is treading water without Simmons and Embiid, but if the team’s best scorer and rebounder returns, the Sixers should be able to return to their old ways with Troel at the center.
However, in 2021-22, it’s been a team effort so far, with Simmons continuing to do his thing off the court.
Tobias Harris will play the role of Robin to Embiid’s Batman. Seth Curry, Furkan Korkmaz, and Georges Niang are all enjoying career years. Matisse Thybulle, one of the league’s top defenders, is still securing the perimeter.
But it’s Maxey, who took Big Ben’s spot as the team’s starting point guard, who is having a breakout season.
Tyrese Maxey is emerging as the solution to Philadelphia’s Simmons dilemma.
During a game against the Toronto Raptors, Tyrese Maxey of the Philadelphia 76ers dribbles the ball up the court. | Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
Maxey isn’t necessarily crushing the league based on the surface metrics. He has, however, been the Sixers’ most essential player apart from Embiid.
The 21-year-old has filled Simmons’ shoes as point guard, starting all 13 of Philadelphia’s games. Although the Kentucky product doesn’t provide the same level of defense and playmaking as Simmons, he is a significant offensive boost.
Maxey averages 17.1 points per game while shooting 50.6 percent from the field. In Simmons’ absence, he’s making 38.1 percent of his 3-point tries, shooting 87.2 percent from the line, and averaging 4.7 assists and 3.8 rebounds.
Despite starting for the first time in his career a real run of games, the 6-foot-2 guard is only turning the ball over 1.5 times per night in 35.7 minutes.
Maxey recently scored 33 points against the Toronto Raptors, who are known for their defense. Embiid scored 31 points against the Milwaukee Bucks in the team’s other game without him. Through 13 games this season, he’s scored 30-plus points three times.
He has, at least so far, been the answer to the 76ers’ Simmons conundrum.
Maxey’s presence is recalculating the Ben Simmons equation, whether it’s via a trade or just as a replacement.
Sixers general manager Daryl Morey seems to be on the verge of making a deal to get the former LSU Tiger out of Philadelphia. To this far, Morey has been his obstinate self, refusing to accept a return that he considers acceptable for the 25-year-old three-time All-Star.
Maxey has proven to be the ideal solution. If Morey chooses to keep Simmons on the bench, the second-year point guard has shown to be a solid fill-in.
He does, though, assist Philadelphia in a prospective deal. Throwing in a 21-year-old breakthrough star is obviously a huge enticement in the deal if Morey wants to send Simmons go and obtain a hefty package in exchange.
The NBA has been pleasantly surprised by Maxey’s start to the season. But it’s swiftly becoming a significant development for everyone who cares about Philadelphia’s future.
NBA.com provided all data.
RELATED: The Philadelphia 76ers Don’t Need Ben Simmons: A Band of Unknowns ‘This group is really close, they have no distractions, and they play extremely hard.’
The “ben simmons’ contract” is a question that has been plaguing the Philadelphia 76ers for quite some time. The saga just took yet another twist, but the ideal solution for the franchise is currently materializing on the court.
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